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Profile: Kevin Sumlin

New Arizona Wildcats head football coach Kevin Sumlin poses with UA president Robert Robbins and athletic director Dave Heeke at the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility on Jan. 16, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz.
Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star

Profile: Kevin Sumlin

University of Arizona president Robert Robbins, new UA head football coach Kevin Sumlin and athletics director Dave Heeke speak during Sumlin's introductory news conference on Jan. 16, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz.
Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star

Profile: Kevin Sumlin

Kevin Sumlin is introduced as the new head football coach at the University of Arizona on Jan. 16, 2017.
Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star

Profile: Kevin Sumlin

New University of Arizona Wildcats head football coach Kevin Sumlin jokes with past players during his introductory press conference at the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility on Jan. 16, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Sumlin succeeds Rich Rodriguez, who was fired in December 2017.
Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star

Profile: Kevin Sumlin

Profile: Kevin Sumlin

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin looks on prior to the game against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan Hare Stadium on Sep. 17, 2016.
Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

Profile: Kevin Sumlin

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin talks with his players in the huddle during a review during the first quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium on Aug. 28, 2014.
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Profile: Kevin Sumlin

Houston Cougars coach Kevin Sumlin watches on the sidelines during the game against the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl on Sep. 18, 2010.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Profile: Kevin Sumlin

Profile: Kevin Sumlin

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin (left) talks with quarterback Kyle Allen (10) after a touchdown against the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks during the first quarter at Kyle Field on Nov. 1, 2014.
Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Profile: Kevin Sumlin

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin gives a thumbs up as he leaves the field following their win over the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium on Oct. 1, 2016.
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

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New University of Arizona Wildcats head football coach Kevin Sumlin, center, poses with UA president Robert Robbins, left, and athletic director Dave Heeke, right, during Sumlin's introductory press conference at the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility on Jan. 16, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Sumlin succeeds Rich Rodriguez, who was fired in December 2017.(Photo: Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star)

Former UA players crowded an auditorium in the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility and applauded Sumlin’s no-nonsense style.

“He’s got a lot of Tony Dungy in him,” said Ricky Hunley, an All-American linebacker at UA in the mid-1980s.

The 53-year-old Sumlin went out of his way to build connections with alumni players, saying they were “always welcome in this program. This is your program.”

“You guys care,” Sumlin said. “And it’s a different level of care.”

Sumlin arrives at UA after six years as head coach at Texas A&M, where he averaged better than eight wins a season in a division that included Alabama, Auburn and LSU. He was fired after going 7-5 last year.

Melissa Wilhelmsen said Rodriguez made unwanted sexual advances, pressured her to cover up his marital infidelity and wrote instructions to staffers in a document called the “Hideaway Book,” which stated “Title IX,” the federal law that bans discrimination based on gender and sex in college athletics, “doesn’t exist in our office.”

Rodriguez has denied the claims.

The university said that an investigation couldn’t substantiate claims against Rodriguez, but Heeke and UA President Robert C. Robbins fired the coach because of concerns over the “direction and climate of the football program.”

Instead, when he spoke of the past, Sumlin referenced Dick Tomey, who led the Wildcats from 1987-2000 and put together a 95-64-4 record, that included two 10-win seasons. Tomey went 4-3 in bowl games with UA, including a 29-0 win over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl after the 1993 season.

“I was able to talk to Coach Tomey yesterday,” Sumlin said. “We talked a lot about former player engagement.

“Rich won games, but from a consistency standpoint of this university being a nationally recognized powerhouse football team, really I think Coach Tomey was that time period. … I’m looking forward to him coming back and being around.”

Sumlin — who coached Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum at the University of Houston — said the offensive system would be similar to last season but “more aggressive.”

New UA head football coach Kevin Sumlin (left) greets former UA great Ricky Hunley on Tuesday.(Photo: Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star)

Tate emerged as a fringe Heisman contender after being inserted into the starting lineup midway through last season. He set rushing records by the game and was the first player to be named Pac-12 player of the week four straight times.

“He’s a special player, from the outside looking in,” Sumlin said of Tate, adding that any success the dual-threat quarterback has as an individual will be a function of team play.

Sumlin discussed the Territorial Cup rivalry, saying he had a good relationship Edwards. Sumlin was an intern in Tampa Bay, getting on-the-job training on a Dungy-led staff that included Edwards.

But he drew a clear distinction in style with the loquacious Sun Devils coach, whom he brought in to give a pep talk to his Aggies last season.

“I don’t have a bunch of Knute Rockne speeches,” Sumlin said. “You run out of that real quick. The first year that works, and then you start having to make up stuff.”

The response, however, came to a question about the environment around the program that led to the ouster of Rodriguez.

For his part, Sumlin could have mentioned that he immediately suspended two assistant coaches in 2016 for sexist jokes at a football clinic designed for women.

He also downplayed the significance of being the first black football coach in school history, saying that while the accomplishment “shouldn’t be overlooked,” the goal is that “at a certain point, you hope your success can help other guys attain this kind of level, and it won’t be that big of a deal.”

Sumlin won over the ex-players with remarks about accountability that included, “Real growth happens when people trust you to tell them something they don’t want to hear.”

Said Hunley, “I did not think that we had an opportunity at a guy like this.

“This is brilliant. This is the first, best chess move of the year to beat Arizona State.”